The youth threatened to destroy D4vd’s work before killing them, the messages show
Celeste Rivas Hernandez told D4vd she was going to destroy her career and waste her life about 24 hours before prosecutors say she killed a teenager, according to messages made public Monday morning in court.
After an argument about a relationship between another woman and the singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, 14-year-old Hernandez lashed out at her then-boyfriend via text message on April 22, according to court testimony. The pop singer’s debut album, “Withered,” was to be released three days later, on April 25, 2025.
“Oh my f— god I swear to GOD I will kill you if you were in my pool chair I will choke you to death—death bro,” Hernandez wrote. “I’ll tell my father a lot of lies about you-in a dead ass I’ll end your career and your life I’ll ruin anything.”
Hernandez also threatened to “cut off” Burke’s limb, leak damaging information about her on the Internet and contact her mother by text message immediately, according to text messages filed by defense attorney Blair Berk.
The next night, prosecutors said, Burke paid an Uber to bring Hernandez from her home in Lake Elsinore to her apartment in Hollywood. Prosecutors say Burke killed Hernandez that night in response to his threats. Burke pleaded not guilty and denied all charges through his lawyers.
Documents shown in court Monday show that Burke continued to send messages to Hernandez’s phone hours after the Uber arrived, which, according to prosecutors, was an attempt to suggest that he never arrived at her home.
Phone records show Burke was sending some of those texts while driving in Santa Barbara County, where prosecutors later found Hernandez’s passport card dumped on the side of a highway, according to Los Angeles Police Det. Corey Farrell.
Prosecutors rested after Farell’s testimony concluded, and Burke’s legal team announced they would not call witnesses. After Burke’s attorneys made an argument to dismiss the charges, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo will rule on whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence to go to trial.
Documents released Monday show the two had an ongoing argument in the 24 hours before prosecutors say Burke killed Hernandez. Berk said Monday that the two exchanged more than 1,200 text messages during that time.
Prosecutors said Burke and Hernandez had been dating for about two years but “broke up” in November 2024. Documents shown in court late last week and early Monday morning showed they continued to talk in the months that followed, at times arguing about the status of their friendship and Burke’s relationships with other women.
Autopsy records show Hernandez died from stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. Prosecutors say she was killed by Burke in her home, then separated. On cross-examination, Berk asked Farell a series of questions confirming that no one witnessed the murder or saw Burke or Hernandez between 10:10 and 10:31 p.m. on April 23, the time prosecutors believe the murder took place.
“You didn’t identify a single witness who saw David Burke in those 21 minutes?” Berk asked. “You never had a witness tell you what happened after 10:10 at night?”
The detective said Berk was right both times.
Although he did not make a defense argument, Berk attempted to question Farell about prior incidents of domestic violence when Hernandez was accused of attacking Burke. Olmedo said that would not apply in the first trial, but the question raises an argument that Burke’s team will likely make at trial. Berk suggested a series of messages in which Hernandez suggested he had bipolar disorder, but Olmedo stopped that line of questioning. Farell also admitted that Burke’s relationship with the child is not a secret.
Hernandez’s parents – who entered the room during Farell’s testimony Monday morning – signed a travel waiver form in 2024 that allowed their daughter to travel overseas with Burke, according to Farell. When Burke and Hernandez went to Las Vegas, Hernandez’s older sister was there at the same time and knew the two were together, according to Berk. Hernandez was also filmed sitting with Burke’s family in the VIP box during the concert at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood.
Sometimes in 2024, when Hernandez was staying with her aunt in Los Angeles, Burke would come home to pick up the child for days. Burke even went with Hernandez’s family to Six Flags Magic Mountain, according to court testimony.
“Celeste and David go to church with members of Celeste’s family many times,” Berk said at one point. Although Farell said he had no evidence that this happened, there were messages about the plan to attend services.
Hernandez’s mutilated body was found inside a Tesla registered to Burke months after their last text message exchange. Prosecutors said the singer mutilated her body with a chainsaw after killing her.
Investigators have gathered much of what they know about Burke’s alleged illicit relationship with Hernandez after searching the singer’s cell phone, which was seized in September last year.
Late last week, prosecutors released dozens of text messages taken from the phone showing Burke impregnating Hernandez, which led to an early 2024 abortion. The two also described their sex lives in vivid detail in the documents, and discussed getting married overseas and arranged for Hernandez to run away from her Lake Elsinore home and live with Burke.
Farell also described a number of images taken from the device that showed Burke or Hernandez nude or performing sexual acts. On Monday, Berk released several messages in which Hernandez is accused of misrepresenting Burke’s age, saying the girl told the singer she was 16 when they met and 18 when they first had sex.
If convicted, Burke could face life in prison without parole, or the death penalty. County of Los Angeles County. He said. Nathan Hochman said last week his office had to decide whether they would seek the death penalty in this case.
